Hi there!

I'm so sorry for the delay on this chapter. This one was a challenge, because I included a case in the next two chapters. And let me just say I give Marlowe and the rest of them credit; even my simple tiny little case was hard to write.

That being said, I know this story is more about love and what not, so after this case, it will get back to the root of the story. I thought it would be fun to at least attempt a case since he is there to shadow her.

THANK YOU for all of your reviews. This story also now has over 200 follows and I cannot believe it. I am truly overwhelmed!

Enjoy!

Castle jolted awake to the sound of his phone ringing next to him. He peeked at the clock on his bedside table. 6:45. He let out a groan and reached over to answer it. "Castle."

"I'm obligated to call you."

"You always sound so thrilled when you talk to me." He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and then clicked on the lamp. He listened and could hear her heels clicking through the phone.

She huffed and stopped walking. "Are you coming?"

"Yes ma'am!" He sat up and swung his feet around the side of the bed. From the sounds of it, she was closing her door and making her way down the hall, the elevator dinging in the background.

She huffed again. "I'll text you the address."

"See you soon, Katherine." Castle cooed into the receiver.

And with that, the line went dead.

Castle stretched upwards, making his way over to the bathroom. His phone pinged, the address of the murder popping up on his screen. "This better be a good one."

Within twenty minutes, Castle was out the door and heading to his first real case; no one had ever been so excited about a murder in all of mankind.

He stepped over the threshold of the scene, looking a little too giddy, before Kate materialized in front of him, a hand on his chest.

"Easy there, tiger."

He craned his neck to look past her. "What? I wanna help!"

"Or I could debrief you first before you see the body." Nothing registered on his face, so she spoke again. "It looks like a suicide, but Lanie won't know for sure until she gets our vic on the slab."

"It looks like a suicide?"

"People do some crazy things, Castle, like pose bodies. That's why we're here." She led him down the hall and spoke quietly as they walked. "Emily Quinn, 27, single gunshot wound to the head. Time of death is between two and four AM. One of her neighbors went over this morning to go jogging and found her."

"So she did kill herself?" He questioned.

Kate bit her lip. "She may have, but there's signs we look for to prove otherwise."

"Signs of forced entry?"

"That's one of them." She nodded. "But in this case there wasn't."

"So if she was murdered, the killer had a key?"

"Or it's someone she knew."

"Anything else?"

"It looks like our vic has bruising around her wrists and on the finger that pulled the trigger."

"So that's what really sealed the deal, right?"

"Pretty much."

They turned one last corner and made their way into the apartment, the space swarming with activity. Castle took a step into the room and saw the body for the first time.

Kate, despite her many colorful feelings towards him, was utterly impressed by his composure. He kept any snide comments to himself, locked behind a set line of his lips. He wasn't outrageous or theatrical or idiotic; until he reached out to touch the chair the body was sitting in.

Kate's eyes grew wide as she reached out to stop him. "No, no, no, no. Gloves."

Rick stopped and backed up, reaching for the blue latex gloves Kate pulled from her pocket. "Right, sorry, rookie mistake."

"Yeah, well, don't let it happen again." She nodded, a slight eye roll in her down cast gaze.

"So now what do we do?"

Espo walked in and spoke. "Just talked to the neighbors. They said they heard fighting last night. They recognized Emily's voice, but not the other."

"Does the building have security cameras?"

"Yeah, but we're going to have to wait a couple of hours before anyone's on duty to get them for us." Ryan spoke from next to Espo, looking at his notepad.

"Lanie?" Kate turned to get her attention.

"Hmm?" She continued writing on her clipboard.

"Got anything else for us before we head back?"

"Not that I can see right now. I'll call you when I get her back."

"Okay, thanks." Kate said before turning to the door and making her way back to her Crown Vic with Castle in tow.

They finally arrived back at the precinct, all members of the party going to their desks before meeting in the middle to start the board.

Espo spoke first. "Turns out, Emily didn't have any family. Only child and her parents died in a car accident two years ago."

"Significant other? Friends?"

"She had a boyfriend, Scott Warner, but we can't get a hold of him."

"Okay, find him and bring him in." Kate added the information to the board.

"I need coffee." Castle yawned obnoxiously and stood up.

"Break room." Kate muttered as she wheeled the dry erase board out of the closet.

Castle walked back into the bullpen a moment later with a mug of coffee and a sour look on his face. "This may be the worst coffee I've ever tasted." He took another sip, for reasons unknown to anyone in the room. "It tastes like a monkey peed in battery acid. Here, try some." He held out the mug to Kate.

"I'm good, thanks." She raised an eyebrow at him as he sniffed the mug and took a third sip.

Espo hung up his phone. "Boyfriend just showed up at the crime scene."

"Bring him in."

Thirty minutes later, Scott sat in interrogation, his heart ripped into a million pieces. Apparently, he had been out of the country for two days on business and was going to see Emily today. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her before she died. With his alibi locked tight, they released him to grieve for his girlfriend of over two and a half years.

"Poor guy." Castle sat in his chair beside Kate's desk after Scott left the bullpen.

"Yeah, Castle, it sucks."

"You know I give you mad props for dealing with this day in and day out." His expression was serious and unlike anything Kate had seen in a long time.

Kate gave him a small smile. "Thanks, I appreciate it. And props to you too. Not many people can be so poised their first murder."

"I'm a man of many talents." He leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head.

Kate rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. "Mhm."

Just then, the elevator doors opened and a delivery man walked up to them. "Richard Castle?"

"That's me." He raised a hand.

"I've got your package."

"Thank you very much, you can wheel it this way." Rick got up and started walking away from her desk.

"Castle?" Kate straightened, and Espo stood to follow.

He led the man to the break room, Kate clicking quickly behind them.

"Since your coffee is basically crap, I bought you guys a brand new espresso machine." He rubbed the box, a grin on his face.

"Seriously? Did you buy a Starbucks or something?" She folded her arms as he started removing pieces from the box.

"Only the espresso part." He stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Fantastic because we should all be worrying about lattes right now." She stated, a hand on her hip.

Ryan pushed into the room with the rest of them, his face in his notes. "Hey guys, just got done looking at security footage with Tori and." He stopped then, and looked up. "Ooh, new coffee machine? Freaking sweet!" He fist bumped Espo who was keeping a poker face for now.

Kate could see how proud of himself Rick was and quickly put an end to it. She rubbed her forehead, already exhausted. "Ryan, what were you going to say?"

"Oh, yeah, right, just got done looking at security footage with Tori and there was only one person that came and then left the building within our time frame."

"Do we know who it is?"

"I was getting there." Ryan straightened his tie. "We had the image taken over to the apartment, and the doorman identified her as Courtney Tellers, a frequent guest, and Emily's best friend."

"And do we know where Courtney is?" Kate questioned, leaning in.

Ryan shook his head. "Not a clue."

"Find her." Kate pointed at Espo and Ryan and walked out of the room, eager to get down to business.

It wasn't until she was out of ear shot that Castle spoke to the boys. "Alright, who wants a latte?"

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